Tuesday, 1 May 2012

Wine and Cocktails: Glitter and Gossip

Goodness me, what a week I've had! Full of shows, new acts, cocktails, wine, friends, gossip and glitter...

On Monday I started off my epic journey by travelling down to lovely London - for something of a break actually as I had no shows until mid-week: so after a lovely relaxing day and a wander around Covent Garden, I took the opportunity on Tuesday to see a West End show - something I haven't done in years, and Wicked didn't disappoint!

Blurry picture of the stage

I have spent the last couple of weeks working on two new acts and on Wednesday I debuted them both at Proud Cabaret

Costumes for 'Sugar' and 'Corbeau'

Whenever I debut a new act, I always make sure I'm also performing one that I know back-to-front, so as you can imagine, I was incredibly nervous for two new routines on one night! However, Proud City is a beautiful venue and I love performing there as all of the staff are so friendly and supportive.

Proud: City

Wednesday night is billed as 'Nouveau Variate' and encourages new performers to take part, or for more seasoned performers to introduce new routines: 'Corbeau' went really well, for a first performance: I mis-timed the ending but the music is so epic it doesn't really make that much difference. However 'Sugar' went quite wrong as the sequins on my dress caught on the sequins on my shoes and tangled me up for half of the act until I could take them off, which threw me for the rest of the act.

I use an awful lot of glitter during 'Sugar' and I found out after the show that the small table in front of the stage that bore the brunt of my glitter-casting had absolutely loved it and had scraped some of the glitter off the stage to continue covering themselves in the stuff!

Covered in glitter!! - post 'Sugar'

The rest of the cast for the night were wonderful: Abi Collins debuted a new act herself, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the audience, though small, was incredibly appreciative. I especially enjoyed hanging out with Amelie Soleil, who I've not seen for almost a year! We had a lot to catch up on!

On Thursday night, I returned to Proud for their 'Noir Night' and performed alongside the incredible Mat Ricardo, Betsy Rose and Dolores Delight. The audience wasn't as involved as the previous night even there were more than double the amount of people in: this time, 'Sugar' went really well (thanks to panic-buying a new pair of shoes during the day!) but 'Corbeau' felt as though it fell slightly flat, even though it fit the theme of the night much more.

I wasn't feeling particularly on-form myself on Thursday, however a couple of Espresso Martini's, a catch up with the fabulous Betsy Rose and a packet of Quavers helped restore my spirits!

Friday launched a fabulous weekend as I travelled with Elliot Mason and Abi Collins to beautiful Bath for High Tease at the Komedia. I love this show as there is always such a sense of camaraderie backstage and the audience are that rare sort that are up for anything - the wilder the better and the show certainly didn't disappoint with the line-up including a troupe of Cossack Dancers inviting audience participation!

Unfortunately, in a break with Bath High Tease tradition, we didn't stay over after the show as Kittie, Frankie, James, Elliot and I had to travel back to Manchester due to 'The Burlesque Show' in Bradford on Saturday!

Saturday saw me waking up caked in glitter, yet Frankie Lynn (who I shared a room with) was miraculously untouched! Alexandra Hofgartner and I were forced to make a detour en-route to the show for industrial-strength glitter-removing products, which led to us becoming incredibly lost and arriving at the venue around an hour after everyone else!

The sold-out audience loved the show, and even though they took some time to get into the swing of things, by the time Jim Devereaux sang them out as Elvis, they were calling for encores!

The highlight of the night had to be Kittie Klaw's 'Britannia' - she rounds off the act by dancing to 'Can't Touch This' while performing wheelies on a Dareway that's been pimped out to resemble a Roman Chariot. Too much fun!

Once again we travelled in convoy back to Manchester, and once again Alex and I managed to get indecently lost (finding ourselves near Liverpool at one stage!) and landing back at Kittie Klaw's house several hours after everyone else!

Rounding off the most fabulous week was the most rainy Sunday: I went shopping and bought myself some new shoes to cheer myself up. However the day swiftly improved upon arrival at The Lowry Theatre in Manchester for the most packed and incredible show I've ever had the privilege to be part of!

Alexandra Hofgartner rehearsing on-stage at The Lowry, and playing with Joe Black postcards during sound-check.

For a start, we had completely sold out, and the audience were nuts (in a good way) - the show was hosted by the force of nature that is Dusty Limits, and the cast were incredible! The line-up covered every aspect of Burlesque and Cabaret, from Glorian Gray's 'Marie Lloyd' tribute act, reminiscent of the Victorian Music Halls, to Carrie-Ann O'Dell's epic Dita Von Teese tribute act, complete with giant martini glass.